I start doing stand up comedy in Dublin. I perform at the International Bar on Wicklow Street in the City Centre. This is a revelation for me. Being a Yank provides me with a slight amount of unearned status. It’s like the opposite of the politics scene. In the comedy scene, being an American gives me a little bump. My act is coming from an outsider perspective, and the Irish audiences seem to find that to be interesting enough. I have a bit about how Irish people wear full Levi’s denim outfits, drink Budweiser, smoke Marlboro Light cigarettes and eat McDonald’s while at the same time talking about how awful America is. I tell them they’re more American than I’ve ever been. They proceed to laugh at their own hypocrisy lol. We’re all having fun. I truly credit Ireland with helping me to actually become somewhat funny at doing stand up.
At this point, things are good. I’m not yet manic. I’m in a good place creatively. I write a one-act play entitled, “De-Evolved Death of the Fascist Left: An Unwanted Tribute to Amiri Baraka.” Yeah, it’s pretty damn pretentious lol. It’s actually an adaptation of “Dutchman,” a play written in 1964 by the celebrated and brilliant LeRoi Jones who, soon after writing this play, would change his name to Amiri Baraka. The name change is connected with his identification with Black nationalism. An aspect of Black nationalism is often Black separatism, which holds that Black people should form nation-states separate, both physically and politically, from the cultural assimilation of white people and white culture. THIS is why my play adaptation is an UNWANTED tribute to Amiri Baraka. I’m being cheeky.
“Dutchman” is an allegory about race relations and Black identity during the Civil Rights Movement. The play takes place on the New York City subway. The two main characters are Clay and Lula. Clay is a 20-year-old, well dressed, college educated, mild-mannered, young Black man. He’s symbolic of integrationist ideology; something that Baraka seemingly rejected at the time. Lula is a 30-year-old, tall, skinny white woman with long red hair. She wears sunglasses, sandals, bright lipstick and salacious summer clothes. She eats an apple. She’s symbolic of the racism and oppression of white America.
At the start it appears that Lula somehow knows specifics about Clay, even though they have never met. Lula then proceeds to flirt heavily with Clay. Clay is flattered by the sexual advances and is attracted to Lula and hopeful they will have sex, but he doesn’t reveal to her that that’s how he feels. This angers Lula. She changes tactics. She now mocks Clay. Lula calls him out on his three-button suit, his fancy college education and his white manner of speaking. She calls him an Uncle Tom. Eventually, in response, Clay grabs Lula and throws her into her seat. He slaps her twice. He then delves into an impassioned monologue about how easily he could murder her and all the other “weak-faced ofays” on the train. He exclaims that Lula should let him be a “middle-class fake white man,” if he wants to be. He says, “And I sit here, in this buttoned-up suit, to keep myself from cutting all your throats.” He proclaims that Black musicians and poets wouldn’t even have to create art, if they could just kill white people. Murder would be the justified cure for the neurosis and subjugation inflicted by white America.
However, Clay then becomes weary and changes his tune. He says, “Ahhh. Shit. But who needs it? I’d rather be a fool. Insane. Safe with my words, and no deaths, and clean, hard thoughts, urging me to new conquests.” Essentially, he confesses that he doesn’t want to fight racism and oppression, instead he’ll settle for the status-quo and assimilation into white society. Lula responds by stabbing him twice in the chest with a knife, killing him. She commands the other passengers on the subway to throw Clay’s body off the train and then for them to get off at the next stop. They follow her demands. Soon after, another 20-year-old, young Black man enters the subway car. Lula gives him a long slow look. At the same time, the old Black train conductor says hello to the young Black man and tips his hat toward Lula. The end.
In order to understand my adaptation, I have to quickly explain some of the masterfully crafted symbolism in “Dutchman.” The protagonist, Clay, symbolizes how socially malleable Black folks can be forced to be in racist America. The pressure to conform can be overwhelming. The antagonist, Lula, represents the power of structural racial oppression. The young Black man, who appears at the end after Clay has been killed by Lula, is symbolic of the recurrent nature of Black conformity to the status quo. The old Black train conductor represents the end result of this Black conformity. Essentially, what “Clay” is subjected to by “Lula” is ritualistic in nature.
So yeah, with the hubris of youth, I decide to write an adaptation of THAT play lol. I decide to write, “De-Evolved Death of the Fascist Left.” Sadly, the text of the play is forever lost; being a casualty of possessions eviscerated during a manic rampage. But I’ll give you the gist: It takes place at a bus stop. A young man, who is a radical political activist, waits for the bus. An attractive young woman approaches and sits down next to him. She flirts with him and somehow knows personal details about his life. She then starts to call him out on how he’s looking to conform to a more stable, mainstream, even corporate, life after graduating college. She castigates him for his impending cowardly acquiescence to the establishment. The young man then launches into a monologue about the pressures of society and how everybody needs to grow up. He proclaims that people can’t just rage against the machine forever. The attractive woman then strangles him to death, as the bus approaches. She demands that the people getting off the bus throw the young man onto the bus. They obey her. The bus driver nods toward the attractive woman and then drives away. A beat passes as another young man sits down at the bus stop. The attractive woman smiles at him. The end. Man, oh man, I wish I didn’t lose that play. Maybe one day I’ll rewrite it!
It’s now March of 2003. “De-Evolved Death of the Fascist Left” actually gets staged at the Samuel Beckett Theatre at Trinity College. My friends, Ben and Siobhan, play the two main characters. This is so exciting. Unfortunately, at this point, I’m out of my gourd manic. In fact, I get sent to St. Patrick’s Psychiatric Hospital the very same day that my play is put up. What a tragedy.
Next week, I’ll track back and write about the build up to this manic episode and the subsequent hospitalization. For now, though, I’ve included an Ireland-centric rarely told stand up bit of mine called “Zombie Cranberries Karaoke Couple.” It’s in the audio link at the top. Enjoy!
Love,
JFOD
(Note: Go to jfodnews.com to read past entries.)
Manic in Ireland (Part Two)